Music and School

The boy is shy. He would not say his name. He struggles to speak when a stranger talks to him. He is one of the hundreds of children whose families, some as refugees of war and other social conflicts, have migrated to Sweden. He plays a violin for the first time, a real one, one that feels as if made of flesh and bone.

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Gira Europa SJVSB. 08-06-2010. Recitales Agrupaciones. Suecia, Gotemburgo. Fotos: Fesnojiv.

There is a violin at the school in Kammarkullen, a city just 30 minutes from Gothenburg, but it has no strings. It only works as a wish. Like him, coming from Somalia, other children from countries like Iran, Iraq and Bolivia among others, run from one instrument to another. They stand in line so that the guys from the “Olimpo” Strings Quartet let them hold their instruments and move the bow.

When Inmanuel Sandoval, Alirio Vegas, David Peralta and Enn René Díaz began to play the first movement of Beethoven’s Quartet n° 5, Op. 18, the 30 children of the first group of the day jumped. And from then on, they forgot to blink. The same happened to the other 60 children that came in the other two groups. It was their first time in an educational show with stringed instruments.

The children in this hall are part of Sweden’s first attempt to reproduce El Sistema, the music teaching system in Venezuela. And just as it happened there in 1975, the teachers in this school begin from nothing.

Sweden’s national television was there allowing thousands of watchers to see:

Ensembles

Besides the “Olimpo” Strings Quartet, the Caracas Strings Quartet, the “Simón Bolívar” Flute Ensemble, the Venezuela Woodwinds Ensemble, the “Atalaya” Percussion Ensemble, the Caracas Brass Ensemble, The Zeus Brass Quintet, and the “Simón Bolívar” Strings Quartet not only played for the first time for an audience that awaited them anxiously, but they also offered educational workshops to children, teens and adults.

“Here we want to teach you how to play with passion and enthusiasm, giving your all. But you already know that. You have it on your blood”, said the percussion professor Einar Nielsen. In only one hour of rehearsing with the students of the Gothenburg Academy of the Arts and the “Atalaya” Percussion Ensemble, he put together the piece Ionisation, by Edgar Varèse.

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Gira Europa SJVSB. 08-06-2010. Recitales Agrupaciones. Suecia, Gotemburgo. Fotos: Fesnojiv.

The ovation was long and so was the goodbye. As long as the audience was concerned, the Venezuelan musicians, who walked all over the stage jumping from one instrument to the next, would have not packed their instruments until midnight.

Music and Nationalism

The Venezuelans took Slottskogen Park on Sunday, June 6, Sweden’s National Day. At noon, the first ones taking on the stage were the members of the Venezuelan Brass Quintet.

The children danced waving their Swedish flags while the adults listened under the bright noon sun, standing or sitting on the fresh grass.

Then at 2:00 pm on another stage, Gustavo Dudamel conducted the Gothenburg Orchestra. This time, spread among the crowd where the Venezuelans –the musicians of the “Simón Bolívar” Youth Orchestra and some others who live in this city (Sweden’s second most important, after Stockholm).

When the Gothenburgers recognized the Venezuelans, they would not doubt to say that Dudamel is famous in Sweden, and some would go beyond: “Here in Gothenburg we feel like he is ours”, said a senior lady of about 70 years of age, who waited for two hours and listened to the concert for another one and a half hours, sitting on a wooden bench.

It was not enough to see Dudamel conducting from the podium, but they also wanted to hear him speak:

…We believe in the music beyond the notes, in the soul of music. Our lives change all the time because of music. There is no boredom possible. We do not have a routine. We are inspired by art all the time”, said the Venezuelan conductor.

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Gira Europa SJVSB. 06-06-2010. Día Nacional de Suecia. Suecia Gotemburgo. Fotos: Fesnojiv.

“You inspire us”, replied the host, saying goodbye with an applauding audience, while the cameras followed the fast walk of the conductor going towards the grass to listen to what was coming.

Just like Dudamel, the lady on the wooden bench along with many other attendants were astounded by the renowned Venezuela Brass Ensemble, conducted by Thomas Clamor, the first trumpet at the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

Sweden’s national television, told the story:

Twenty thousand people, according to statistics from the park authorities, saw 30 youth come into the park dressed in black and seemingly with a marching-like walk. As usual, the members of the Venezuela Brass Ensemble conquered the audience, which gave a standing ovation. The Swedish learned how to say “otra” and it was heard from the first rows. The ensemble could do nothing else but say goodbye with “Alma Llanera”.

Goodbye Gothenburg

The last concert in Gothenburg was on Wednesday, June 9. The “Simón Bolívar” Youth Orchestra performed Beethoven’s Symphony nº 5. The audience did not wait till the end of the concert to break into an ovation. Like a backwards domino effect, the attendants stood from last to first row to applaud the interpretation of the work for 10 minutes.

Tchaikovsky’s Symphony nº 4 closed the program that ended a long time of not only handclaps, but also a foot-stomping ovation. They would not stop applauding despite the two bis by the orchestra led by Gustavo Dudamel, whom the Swedish do not want to let go. This is why they will keep him conducting the Gothenburg Orchestra for two more years.

The “Simón Bolívar” orchestra will return to Sweden on the 12^th for a concert in Stockholm, which is their tour’s last stop in this country.

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Gira Europa SJVSB. 09-06-2010. II Concierto Gothenburg Hall. Suecia, Gotemburgo. Fotos: Fesnojiv.